Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Time For A Refill

That’s me on the left in the Underground Garage cap. Willy Deal is center, and Jeff Kelley is on the right.

First a bit of business regarding the series of short videos called Pond Life that have been created to promote the upcoming season of Doctor Who. I mentioned these clips featuring the Amy and Rory Pond characters at home in last Friday’s Slumgullion but wasn’t sure where people could find them. Not too surprisingly I discovered they can be viewed on Nerdist, which is always a cool site for sci-fi fans to visit.

I spent a few hours last Saturday morning in a nearby forest preserve filming comedy bits that will be shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. The weekly Internet show has been on hiatus for a few months, but will return at the beginning of September. Host Jeff Kelley came up with an idea about me, him and Willy Deal stumbling into one mishap after another while lost in the woods. He had the basic scripts, but we improvised some things, and Willy and I each came up with a short skit on out own. It was a lot of fun, and I’m eager to see how they turned out. Our misadventures will appear on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff over a number a weeks.

In the meantime, I trying to come up with a new concept of my own for Jeff’s show. Over the past few years, I’ve done 21 episodes of Manchester Gallery, in which I portrayed the curator of a pop culture museum; played an inept roving reporter who always seemed to annoy Jeff; covered the arts on What’s With Terry?; created a spoof of Breakfast With The Beatles called Hanging With The Hollies; and portrayed a cranky senior citizen on Old Days. Hopefully, the sketch comedy muse will visit me soon.

I’m also really interested in doing some short interviews with bands and musicians that would maybe include a live performance. The challenge would be finding the right time and place to do them. Jeff is always opened to new ideas for his show, so if you have something in mind, feel free to contact him at coffeewithjeff.gmail.com

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.